The Democratic Party – A Short History

Modern Democratic Party logo

This week the Democratic Party will hold their convention in Denver. History will be made in the Mile-High city this week. The first black candidate for president will be nominated by a major party. Barack Obama will officially become the nominee of his party for President of the United States.

The Democratic Party came out of the Democratic-Republican Party which was organized by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison in the early 1790s. The party favored states’ rights and strict adherance to the Constitution. It also opposed a national bank and wealthy, moneyed interests. In the election of 1800 the Democratic-Republican Party ascended to power with the election of Thomas Jefferson.

In 1828 led by Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren the Democratic-Republican Party split and the faction supporting the old Jeffersonian principles became the Democratic Party. In 1844 the name was officially shortened to the Democratic Party.

Before and during the Civil War the party split along Northern and Southern lines, but still remained one party. Today the Democratic Party remains one of the two major political parties in the United States along with the Republican Party.

Factoids:

Mascot symbol commonly associated with the party is the donkey. This has never been officially adopted by the party.

Since election night 2000 the color blue has become the identified color of the Democratic Party. This is because all major broadcast networks used those same colors to identify the parties, blue for Democrats and red for Republicans.

The song “Happy Days Are Here Again” is the unofficial song of the party.

Notable Democratic Presidents:

Thomas Jefferson

Andrew Jackson

Woodrow Wilson

Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Harry Truman

John F. Kennedy

Lyndon Johnson

Jimmy Carter

Bill Clinton

This week no matter what your political persuasion watching the convention is observing democracy in action.

1/2 of your prediction is correct. O’Biden as I’ll call him. Good match. Hillary is now the deal maker for sure. Funny comparing Canadian parties to US parties.
Cdn Concretive Party are US Liberals/Democrats
Cdn Liberal Party are US Concretive/Republicans

Go Figure

Will the Electoral Collage again determine the presidency?

You should re-run your article on this as many US Citizens still don’t understand the process.